


Not Dead Yet

by Jadesfire2808 (Jadesfire)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-22
Updated: 2009-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-05 00:06:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesfire/pseuds/Jadesfire2808
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"The box was large and striped, its lid flipped back and a small, handwritten note in front of it. Teyla paused as she passed. </i></p><p><i>Congratulations on not being dead. <br/>O'Neill</i>"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Dead Yet

**Author's Note:**

> With huge thanks as always to Z, Rusty, Donutsweeper and Chrys, who reassure me that I make sense and prod me when I don't. Written for [](http://archae-ology.livejournal.com/profile)[**archae_ology**](http://archae-ology.livejournal.com/) as part of the [Fandom Free For All](http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/367156.html)

_Do you know what friendship is... it is to be brother and sister; two souls which touch without mingling, two fingers on one hand._  
Victor Hugo

 

One week after the end of the siege

The box was large and striped, its lid flipped back and a small, handwritten note in front of it. Teyla paused as she passed.

_Congratulations on not being dead.   
O'Neill_

She was frowning at the words when one of the new officers stopped next to her, reaching into the box.

"You gonna have one?" Seeing her puzzled look, he smiled and held the small, round object out to her. "It's a donut."

"Donut?" Rodney talked about them, John too, as one of the things they had missed during their year of separation from Earth, but Teyla had imagined them as bigger and browner.

"They're, well." The officer put the donut on his tray and tilted his head a little. "Mostly deep fried, I think. They taste good though."

Considering Rodney had once spent nearly ten minutes extolling their virtues, Teyla would have been very surprised if they were anything less. Carefully, she lifted one out of the box, squeezing it a little between her fingers.

"Careful!" The officer reached out, pushing her hand over her tray as something red and extremely sweet-looking oozed out of one side of the donut. "You're losing all the jelly. That's the best part" He was still grinning, wide and genuine, and much friendlier than most of the military personnel who had joined the staff in the last few weeks.

Not that Teyla had made much of an effort to get to know them. Not with her people still so unsettled from their trips to and from the mainland, and her own grief still so close. The new personnel felt like invaders in her home, and she had reacted accordingly. She should have known better. Putting the donut down, she wiped her hand on a napkin before smiling at the officer. "Thank you. Would you care to join me for lunch..."

"Major Evan Lorne. Air Force." He shifted the tray, getting one hand free to hold out to her. The gesture was awkward since she too was trying to balance her tray, but she understood Earth rituals well enough by now to know that it was the intention that mattered. His smile was still broad as he said, "You must be Teyla Emmagen of the Athosians."

"Just Teyla will be fine."

"Evan."

As they made their way to the table, Evan said, "Did you guys really not have donuts all this last year?" When she laughed, he added, "No, I'm serious. Marines without their donuts? I'm surprised you didn't have a mutiny on your hands."

"I believe Rodney was responsible for persuading Elizabeth to trade with the Paldar, who do not make donuts, but do make very good cakes."

"He probably single handedly prevented whole scale rioting. Not often you can say that McKay's actually helped calm a situation down." He stopped short, giving Teyla a sideways glance. "Er, look. I know he's on your team and all..."

"It is alright." Setting her tray down, Teyla took a seat at one of the long tables. "Rodney's diplomatic skills are not perhaps as well-developed as they might be."

Evan laughed, sitting down and leaning back in the chair. "That's what I've heard. Is it true he once started a war over a jar of perfume?"

"News travels fast." When Evan looked more curious than apologetic, she sighed and took a mouthful of her lunch before beginning. "It is true that there was a slight disagreement over some fragrances that we wished to trade for."

"Man, would I have ever loved to be at that meeting." Pulling his chair closer, Evan began eating, gesturing with his free hand for her to continue. She was going to refuse, but the good humor in his eyes and the curling at the corner of his mouth suggested that he was more interested in his own amusement than anything else. And it was a funny story, although John told it better.

Still, she took another bite of her stew as she tried to think of the best place to start. "Well," she said eventually, "there is an animal on several nearby worlds called a drall. I believe it is similar to your cow."

He looked up, forkful of stew halfway to his mouth. "You know, I don't personally own a cow, but go on."

Shaking her head and trying to gather her thoughts again, Teyla smiled. "It all began because Aiden had been complaining about the lack of steak available in the Mess."

Evan was an attentive, responsive listener, nodding in the right places, and letting her tell the tale at her own pace. With the memories of their siege still so close, its losses and pains still so fresh in her mind, it was good to talk of other things, happier times. He might have just been being polite, but the gesture was welcome and kind, and as he had to put his drink down to avoid spilling it as he laughed, she was grateful for it.

* * *

 

Thirty-two hours after Ronon's first off-world mission

Evan was wearing a faded black t-shirt when he opened the door to his quarters, along with the thick trousers that the Earth people called jeans. Most of the Atlantis personnel wore them when they were not on duty, and Teyla had long wondered if it was some kind of requirement on Earth. With their complicated social customs, she could never be sure. Hopefully, her present attire was appropriate within those rules.

"Hi." His hair was wet, and he ran a hand through it, a little self-consciously.

Teyla smiled. "I hope I am not disturbing you," she said, and he shook his head quickly.

"No. Not at all. Er. Come in."

His quarters were more spartan than John's, more what she expected from a soldier. But then Lorne had not had to live without access to these things, and she had noticed that many who had spent that first year in Atlantis had received multiple boxes from the Daedalus. Evan seemed to be making do with only the bare minimum, although a pair of sealed crates were stacked in the corner of the room. There were a few pictures and books, some more non-uniform clothes scattered about the place. Nothing to really make the space his.

Carefully, Teyla cleared a space on the desk and set down the box she was carrying.

"I am sure the rest of my team would have liked to have come as well, but John and Ronon are...debriefing." That was a useful word for an encounter that seemed to be wavering between a staring match and a battle of wills. "Rodney is still in the infirmary."

"Right." Evan frowned a little, coming closer to get a better look at the graze on her face. "Are you okay to be here?"

"I am fine." She ached, it was true, but a shower and some food had done her the world of good. "And I wished to thank you for your help." Lifting her hands, she rested them lightly on his shoulders, inclining her head slightly. It took Evan a moment to catch up, and when he did, the gesture was as awkward as their first handshake, but now as then, it was the intent that mattered.

After the briefest contact, Evan stepped back a little, a little flushed and looking away awkwardly.

"You really don't have to-" The sentence broke off as his eyes fell on the box on the desk. "Is that what I think it is?"

"They may be a little stale," Teyla admitted, but Evan was already flipping open the box.

"They? Oh wow."

It had been worth calling in the favor that Sergeant Green had said he owed her, although Teyla did not normally participate in those trades of promises, not entirely sure how to navigate the complicated waters of Earth social interaction. The look of pure joy on Evan's face as he lifted the donut suggested that it had been the right thing to do.

"I hope they are not too dry. It has been some time since the last visit of the Daedalus, and I feared they would all be gone" she said, raising an eyebrow as he cautiously licked at the side of the donut, his eyes closing in pleasure. "Would you like me to leave you three alone?"

"What? Oh." Smiling a little ruefully, Evan put the donut down, licking the sugar from his fingers. "Thanks, Teyla. These things are worth their weight in gold around here at the moment. Remind me to save you guys more often if this is what it's going to get me."

"We will try to ensure that that is not necessary." Nodding, Teyla began to cross to the door, when Evan held out his hand.

"Hang on." This time, he seemed to be smiling more to himself than her, then he reached into the box. "Would you like the other one?"

After a moment's hesitation, Teyla nodded and took the offered donut. "Thank you, Evan."

"I've got a coffee pot in here somewhere. Haven't had the chance to use it yet." When she gave him a curious look, he went on, "You've got to have coffee with donuts. It's like salt and pepper. Bacon and eggs. I think there's a law or something."

Teyla hesitated. She had meant to return directly to her quarters and sleep off the adrenaline of their capture and escape. If she had read the situation correctly, John and Ronon were likely to take their debriefing to the gym, at which point neither of them would be capable of delivering a proper report for at least a few hours. And Evan was now holding the coffee pot and giving her an expectant look. At least he was unlikely to ask her questions about Wraith or Jumpers or how exactly they had been taken prisoner, because he already knew how these things happened. Here, no one knew where she was.

Trying to keep her voice serious, even as she smiled, she said, "I would not wish to be guilty of breaking one of your laws." She sat on the bed as Evan went to fill the coffee pot in the bathroom. Relaxing a little, she raised her voice to be heard over the running water. "This is not an aspect of Earth culture that I have previously heard of. Do you have many such rules?"

"Oh, sure," Evan called back. "Don't run with scissors, don't break mirrors. That's seven years bad luck. You can also get that for walking under ladders or in front of a black cat. Or maybe that's if it walks in front of you. Not sure about that one."

Teyla smiled and took a careful bite of her donut.

* * *

 

Two days after Lorne's team return from the dead

The 'glad you're not dead' donuts had become something of a tradition, and Teyla made sure she had a cup of coffee in her hand for when John made the toast.

"To Lorne, Farrell, Nirin, Yu and Jones. We're all very glad you're not dead." He raised his mug, the one that Rodney had given him at the most recent present exchange with the words "World's Most Idiotic Pilot" on the side.

Everyone drank, shifting a little in the awkward silence that followed John's toast, then starting to talk quietly in twos or threes, slapping each other on the shoulder as they began to relax a little and the volume of conversation began to rise.

Evan drifted towards Teyla, both hands wrapped around his coffee mug. He nodded a greeting, which she returned.

"How are you feeling?" Teyla asked, looking away long enough to contemplate the box of donuts on the table in front of her. Some of them were disturbingly pink.

"Pretty good for a dead man."

She smiled, selecting a donut with brown icing that she hoped was chocolate. "I am glad we did not have to make that official."

"Yeah, the Colonel hates the paperwork." His tone was light, but Teyla frowned.

"He would not give up on you, Evan. On any of you. You know that."

"I guess I do. But still." He shrugged. "We all write the letter, just the same."

Teyla was well aware of the custom, just as she understood the point of the tags that all military personnel wore around their necks. It was odd to her, that they should not be remembered otherwise, but then they were a long way from home.

She shook her head. "Let us hope that no one will read it for many years to come."

"I'll drink to that." Evan touched his mug to hers, then seemed to shake himself out of whatever he was thinking, turning to the donuts with obvious relish. "So, what have we got? Did Jones get all of the jelly ones already?"

There was still something too stiff about the set of his shoulders, unlike the easy, relaxed Evan that Teyla had come to know. But she did not wish to press him on something that he would obviously rather not consider. She understood that desire well enough.

Instead, she smiled and said, "I believe there is another box somewhere. You may be lucky with that one."

"Colonel Sheppard's holding out on us, eh?" He raised an eyebrow at her and she suppressed a grin.

"Previous experience has shown that many of the men prefer to..." As she was searching for a diplomatic term, Evan supplied it for her.

"Duck out early?"

"There will probably be other celebrations across the city tonight." They shared an understanding look. John had never even attempted the futile task of making Atlantis personnel avoid alcohol altogether, but he did expect them to keep it within limits. Tonight, she suspected, they would be pushing those limits as far as they could. "Will you be celebrating your miraculous resurrection?"

Snorting, Evan shook his head. "A cup of coffee and a donut will do me just fine." He shrugged. "I figure someone around here should keep a clear head tonight."

"Possibly, but that need not be you. I am sure that both Elizabeth and John would not begrudge you the evening." Teyla tilted her head thoughtfully, looking over to where John, Rodney and Ronon were bickering over their donuts, familiar and content as usual. They would miss her at some point, but not just yet.

"I have some bottles of ruus wine in my quarters that I am sure John will wish me to share later, even if he does not have any. Would you care to assist me in collecting them?"

"Ruus wine?" Evan looked cautious but he put his cup down and took a quick bite of his donut.

"Have you not yet tasted the wine that my people make?" When he shook his head, she found a spot for her own coffee cup and turned towards the door. He offered her his arm, tipping his head towards hers as she took it, just the lightest of bumps and nothing like an Athosian gesture. But it was enough. Leading the way to the door, Teyla grinned. "Major Lorne," she said, "you are about to discover one of the delights of the Pegasus Galaxy."

* * *

 

The week after the humanized Wraith escape. The week after Michael escapes. Again.

Teyla had hoped to find some solitude out here, far away from the thrum of Atlantis life. So hearing the footsteps on the stairs behind her was far from welcome. Still, she shifted a little, straightening her back and smoothing down her hair.

"Hey."

She had expected John, or perhaps Ronon, and she started a little on hearing Evan's voice. When she turned, he was leaning against the doorframe, not looking at her.

"It's a pretty good spot you've got here," he said conversationally. "Good views. If you like sea."

Turning back to the endless ocean view, Teyla nodded. "It is very peaceful."

"I guess." She heard his footsteps as he came over to where she was sitting, almost at the edge of the balcony. "Pretty good view behind, too." When she turned enough to raise an eyebrow at him, he snorted, shaking his head a little. "Okay, so that one sounded better in my head."

He was right, though. Behind her, the city spread out vast and sprawling and breathtakingly beautiful. It was safety and hope for her galaxy, and had become home for her, but what Teyla needed now was this: nothing but calm seas, the smell of brine and...

She sniffed, frowning. "Is that…"

"I hope so." Lorne sat down next to her, at first crossing his legs a little awkwardly, then shifting forwards so he could rest them over the edge of the balcony. "I had the Mess brew it up specially." He held up a flask. "This baby set me back three bags of M&amp;Ms, I'll have you know."

Teyla closed her eyes, breathing in the coffee. It was a smell she associated with Rodney, with her team and long nights spent talking, with emergency meetings and the end of crises. In an odd way, it was the smell of the city.

"That was very thoughtful of you," she said, taking the plastic cup her offered her and holding it close, the steam warming her face.

"And that's not all. Except this one cost me next week's movie choice, so when the Colonel starts complaining that we have to watch _When Harry met Sally_ again, I'm relying on you to defend me."

The donuts were not unexpected, not now, but they were welcome. She had come out here some hours ago, and was only now realizing how hungry she was.

They sat in silence for a while, the light wind stirring Teyla's hair and making swirls in the steam from her coffee. Lorne shifted a few times, obviously trying to get comfortable, before finally settling down, leaning back on one hand and drawing one knee up to rest his cup on.

"So," he said, voice still light and steady. "What do you think happened to Michael?"

"I do not know. It is possible that he was able to escape the planet." What Teyla did not say – what she would not say, to anyone – was that she was sure that he was still alive. If Michael was anything, it was a survivor. "If he did, all we can hope is that our paths do not cross again."

"I'll drink to that." He did so, draining the last of his coffee. "How long you planning on staying out here?"

Teyla did not look around, keeping her eyes fixed on the distant horizon. "I have not decided. It is not necessary for you to-"

"I'm good," Evan said quickly, shifting so that he could put his empty cup on the ground. "We'll just, you know. Enjoy the scenery."

Taking a few deep breaths, Teyla closed her eyes, letting the open emptiness sweep over her, each moment blowing away more of the darkness in her soul. After another few minutes, Evan shifted a little, moving closer so that his shoulder pressed against hers. Teyla uncurled a little, setting her cup down and rolling her shoulders to loosen them. She still did not open her eyes as she leaned to the side and rested her head on Evan's shoulder. There was a moment of warm, gentle pressure as he touched his head to hers, then he straightened again, letting her rest against him, soothed by the sound of the sea and the gentle touch of the breeze.

* * *

 

The day after they escape Michael's lab

The box was just sitting outside Teyla's quarters, and she was half-surprised that no one had carried it off. There was no note on it, but then, there didn't have to be.

Carefully, she took out one of the donuts, placing it on her bedside table for later, once she had finished bleeding off the last of her frustration with Ronon.

She left the box and its one remaining donut outside Evan's quarters on her way to the gym.

* * *

 

During the Replicator siege, before Atlantis' departure

Teyla was breathless from the run down to the ready room, but even amongst everything that was happening in Atlantis, this was important.

"Major!"

Evan looked up from clipping on his tac vest, holding up a hand to the pilot he was talking to. "Teyla? Is everything-"

"Everything is fine." She hovered in the doorway until he took the hint and went over to her. "I just wanted to give you this."

There had only been time to wrap it in a napkin, but she was sure that did not matter. Not by the way Lorne was grinning.

"Thanks, but shouldn't this wait until we get back?"

"We are about to attempt something dangerous that will involve many people working for many hours. I believe the chances of any remaining when you return to Atlantis are slim." She didn't add how slim their own chances were. She didn't need to.

Nodding, more to himself than her, Evan took the donut, weighing it carefully in his hand. "Huh. Doesn't seem quite right some how. Here." He put a hand on her arm, leading her over to the tall wardrobes that the Earth people called lockers, but which to her looked like doorless cupboards. "I'm gonna put this in here, so that I've got it when I get back."

She nodded, looking up at him and smiling. "That sounds like an excellent plan."

Someone across the room called, "Major, the Apollo's ready for us."

"On my way." Still holding her arm, Lorne turned her to face him, leaning down so they could touch foreheads. There was a whistle from one of the waiting pilots, but it was easy to ignore. There was no time to say anything as they parted, and she watched as the group was transported away in a flash of light. For a moment, she stared into the empty space, not really seeing anything, just feeling the residual warmth on her skin and the beating of her heart.

Before she left for the control room again, she made sure that the napkin-wrapped donut was stowed safely, secure against what was sure to be a difficult journey. It would still be there when they reached their new home, just as she would, and just as Evan would.

Satisfied, she nodded, turned and began to run again.


End file.
